The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today continued the implementation of Order No. 1000 by accepting interregional filings by Southwest Power Pool Inc. (SPP) and utilities in the Southeastern Regional Transmission Planning Process (SERTP) region. In a separate order, FERC largely affirmed its May 2013 order accepting ISO New Englandís (ISO-NE) regional planning and cost allocation process, and it found the grid operatorís proposed revisions partially comply with the directives in the first order.

Order No. 1000 requires neighboring transmission planning regions to identify and jointly evaluate interregional transmission facilities, which are facilities located in two or more neighboring transmission planning regions that may be more efficient or cost-effective solutions to the transmission needs of individual regions. It does not require an interregional transmission plan or interconnection-wide planning.

In accepting the filings by SPP and SERTP subject to further compliance filings, the Commission denied SPPís request for waiver of Order No. 1000 interregional requirements for its seam with SERTP, finding that they are neighboring regions.

As in other interregional orders for the SERTP region, FERC accepted the proposal to allocate costs of interregional transmission facilities to each neighboring region based on the regionís share of the total avoided cost of regional transmission facilities being displaced by the selected interregional transmission facility. However, FERC directed the parties to revise other aspects of their interregional coordination procedures, including the definition of interregional facilities, and to propose identical language in provisions on data exchange and the identification of interregional transmission facilities and cost allocation. The order directs them to make compliance filings within 60 days to resolve the differences and address other compliance directives.

The ISO-NE rehearing order affirms the Commissionís prior findings that ISO-NE must remove right-of-first-refusal provisions from its governing documents and that the Mobile-Sierra doctrine does not preclude that requirement. Granting rehearing in part, however, the order permits ISO-NE to restore certain provisions that recognize the transmission ownersí rights to retain use and control of their existing rights of way.

Acting on the second compliance filing, the Commission found just and reasonable the proposal to allocate costs of public policy transmission upgrades 70 percent to the region based on load-ratio share and 30 percent to those states whose public policy necessitated the project. FERC gave ISO-NE 60 days to file additional modifications.